Modular bifurcated vascular prosthesis

Abstract

A bifurcated vascular prosthesis including a tubular main branch extended by at least two sub-branches, wherein at least one part of the main branch has an expandable strengthener in the form of an expandable annular section; and each sub-branch has at least one expandable zone longitudinally offset to avoid overlapping of corresponding longitudinally offset expandable zones between sub-branches.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. A bifurcated vascular prosthesis, comprising a tubular main branch extended by at least two sub-branches, wherein: 
       the main branch is comprised of an expandable material;  
       at least one part of the main branch has an expandable strengthener in the form of an expandable annular section;  
       each sub-branch has at least one expandable zone longitudinally offset to avoid overlapping of corresponding longitudinally offset expandable zones between sub-branches; and  
       an end of the main branch opposite to the bifurcation is formed by a partially reinforced tubular section, wherein a part of said expandable material of said tubular section has been stripped away to facilitate adherence to an artery.  
     
     
       2. The prosthesis of claim  1 , wherein the main branch is adapted to be expanded up to a diameter of approximately 28 mm, and the sub-branches have a diameter of approximately 10 mm. 
     
     
       3. The prosthesis of claim  1 , wherein the main branch is made of reinforced PTFE with one or more expandable annular sections. 
     
     
       4. The prosthesis of claim  1 , wherein each sub-branch narrows toward its distal end. 
     
     
       5. The prosthesis of claim  1 , wherein the main branch is extended by two reinforced sub-branches having zones that are expandable up to a diameter of approximately 10 mm, the expandable zones being longitudinally offset in order to avoid overlapping of the expandable zones between the two sub-branches, one of the sub-branches being longer than the other. 
     
     
       6. The prosthesis of claim  5 , wherein the expandable zones are reinforced with expandable annular sections. 
     
     
       7. The prosthesis of claim  5 , wherein the main branch is made of reinforced PTFE with one or more expandable annular sections. 
     
     
       8. The prosthesis of claim  5 , wherein each sub-branch narrows towards its distal end. 
     
     
       9. The prosthesis of claim  1 , wherein each sub-branch narrows toward its distal end. 
     
     
       10. The prosthesis of claim  1 , wherein: 
       the main branch is made of PTFE reinforced with one or more expandable annular sections; and  
       each sub-branch narrows towards its distal end.  
     
     
       11. The prosthesis of claim  10 , wherein: 
       the main branch is adapted to be expanded up to a diameter of approximately 28 mm, and the sub-branches have a diameter of approximately 10 mm.